WORKFLOW
Public-sector opportunity screening: a practical workflow
Opportunity screening answers a small but useful question: is there enough evidence here to spend more time reviewing this notice? A repeatable process helps a small team keep that first decision separate from its eventual bid decision.
Start with a narrow review brief
Write down the service you can deliver today, your delivery regions and firm exclusions. Use specific activities instead of broad claims such as digital transformation. Application support, service design and cloud migration can lead to very different obligations. Give the reviewer a clear boundary for each.
Read in two passes
In the first pass, read the notice excerpt and identify an apparent service match, stated location and source link. In the second, open the official material and check scope, lots, dates, participation conditions and the response process. A short excerpt may leave important questions unanswered. Keep those questions visible rather than filling the gaps with assumptions.
Use three review outcomes
Investigate means a plausible match needs document review. Clarify means a specific uncertainty needs an answer through the buyer’s stated route. Archive means the available evidence shows a mismatch or the timing is unsuitable. Record a brief reason for each outcome; this helps you improve the capability profile later.
Turn the shortlist into an owned next action
Assign each promising item to someone who can evaluate delivery capacity and the cost of pursuing it. Set an internal review date before the external deadline. A queue that has no owner is merely a collection of links. J8VEST’s initial screening can feed this workflow, while the document review and decision remain with your team.
Keep this checklist
- State your review boundary.
- Separate a published fact from an inference.
- Give every shortlisted notice an owner and next action.
Official starting points
Use GOV.UK’s Find a Tender entry point and the official Find a Tender service for the original notices. The workflows and fictional examples above are J8VEST’s practical suggestions, not government guidance or a claim about a live procurement.